Stolen Tea

So Mom and I were in the grocery store and decide dto stock up on leftover Celestial Seasonings Xmas teas. There was only one box left of Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride — and it was opened. I checked the box and saw that someone had swiped a few bags, leaving the rest of the box behind on the shelf. A strange but memorable compliment for a tea.

This happen to anyone else? Looked into your cubboard and found someone made off with a box? Read a news story where someone was busted for lifting tea? No names or self-incriminating evidence, please.

Now I know the toll it exacts to live in a high crime area. My reaction was “Well of course people steal tea bags. They steal everything else. Doesn’t everyone check to make sure their food items are full and haven’t been surreptitiously opened and sampled?” Apparently Rena lives in an area where this type of behavior is unusual enough to be surprising. I envy Rena.

The worst I’ve seen is that sometimes the bottled teas at Whole Foods or Fresh Market have been opened and a quarter of the drink has been drunk and then the bottle has been reclosed and replaced on the shelf. People who are not careful or are in a rush will buy one of these. (As I sadly did one crazy rushed day.)

I’ve never seen something like that happen here. But I have seen people open boxes to see what for example a lamp or a toaster or some such looks like in RL and then stuff it back in the box and take a different unopened box instead if they decided to buy it. I hate when they do that. If they decide to buy the product why not take the one they’ve already opened??? O.o
I have also seen someone take for example a bottle of water and then drink it in the shop and pay for the empty bottle when leaving.

When discussing my big move from home to college with my father, I expressed my concern that my new roomates might steal my tea. His response: “If you have roomates who steal your tea, then you have great roomates!” That has really stuck with me, and the roomates I have endured through the years have never liked tea. If only…

LOL I have the same view as ChrisLovestea :)
I wish people loved tea as much here. It’s a great compliment.
The only books that gets stolen in the bookstore I work in, are selfdevelopment books.
I laugh at that, once in a while…

I steal tea like the fiend I am! But not really, I just get others to buy it for me…
I think would actually be happy if some thought my tea was worth the effort to steal, and then drinking. I don’t mind sharing the tea love even if its an aggressive way.

I hardly ever go to supermarkets for tea, frequenting more the actual specialty tea shops (what a snob I am…) In those places, even Teavana, I don’t steal anything out of respect. Plus if I got caught, it would suck being banned from the store. Blah.

Plus, I have money. Wealthy parents… blah. I couldn’t shop lift if I wanted to.

As for as tea, I’ve never seen anyone steal any… perhaps because most tea drinkers don’t fall under the “hoodlum” umbrella. I used to have a friend, though, that in a troubled period in her life stole hundreds in merchandise from Hot Topic.